Skip to main content

‘Metacognition’

“It gets us away from staring at all these little boxes on the screen—it gets us all on the same side looking at something else.”: Jesse Blocher talks about his Fall 2020 hybrid course.

Feb. 15, 2021—Jesse Blocher, Associate Professor of the Practice for Finance and Data Science, recently joined Marcy Singer-Gabella and Julie Johnson for a Conversation on Teaching about the hybrid courses they taught in Fall 2020. You can see the recording of the entire session here. In the clip below, Jesse shares key lessons about how he uses...

Read more


Biological Sciences Seminar: Improving student learning through understanding reasoning and problem-solving practices

Nov. 26, 2019—Join the Biological Sciences Department on Monday, December 2, 3:30-5:15, to consider different teaching practices as part of their ongoing seminar series. Undergraduate Learning Assistants will present posters on questions such as, “Which clicker questions promote the most discussion?” during tea time from 3:30-4:10, followed by Professor Jenny Knight’s seminar. Professor Knight writes, “Classroom practices...

Read more


New Teaching Guide on Metacognition

Jun. 24, 2013—Metacognition is, put simply, thinking about one’s thinking.  More precisely, it refers to the processes used to plan, monitor, and assess one’s understanding and performance. Metacognition includes a critical awareness of a) one’s thinking and learning and b) oneself as a thinker and learner. This new teaching guide, written by CFT Assistant Director Nancy Chick, defines...

Read more


Making Student Thinking Visible: Metacognitive Practices in the Classroom

Mar. 11, 2013—by Nancy Chick (CFT Assistant Director) and Katie Headrick Taylor (CFT Graduate Teaching Fellow) Every Friday, the four CFT Graduate Teaching Fellows and Assistant Director Nancy Chick meet to discuss the week’s activities and then explore something substantive, either through readings or guests.  We recently discussed the “Top 12 Teaching and Learning Articles of 2012”...

Read more


Metacognition

Feb. 9, 2013—by Nancy Chick  Print Version Cite this guide: Chick, N. (2013). Metacognition. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/metacognition/. Thinking about One’s Thinking |  Putting Metacognition into Practice Thinking about One’s Thinking Metacognition is, put simply, thinking about one’s thinking.  More precisely, it refers to the processes used to plan, monitor, and assess...

Read more


Thinking About Metacognition

Jan. 10, 2013—By Cynthia Brame, CFT Assistant Director   I’ve been thinking a good bit about metacognition lately, which is kind of funny, if you think about it. Metacognition can be defined very simply as thinking about thinking, or more fully as by developmental psychologist John Flavell: “Metacognition refers to one’s knowledge concerning one’s own cognitive processes...

Read more


Talking with Faculty About Cognitive Science & Learning (POD Essays on Teaching Excellence)

Feb. 16, 2012—CFT Assistant Director Nancy Chick previews an essay by John Girash, Harvard University, appearing in Essays on Teaching Excellence published by the Professional and Organizational Network in Higher Education. In “Talking with Faculty About Cognitive Science & Learning,” one of the essays in POD’s new Essays on Teaching Excellence, John Girash of Harvard connects the brain...

Read more


Disciplinary Thinking and Metacognition – A Conference Report

Nov. 29, 2010—By Derek Bruff, CFT Assistant Director One of the sessions I attended earlier this month at the 2010 POD Network Conference in St. Louis was offered by Matt Kaplan and Deborah Meizlish of the University of Michigan’s Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT). The session was titled “Using Metacognition to Foster Students’ Disciplinary...

Read more